Staring down the barrel of a year off. Advice needed Forum

bearsniper · Post by **bearsniper** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:08 pm

I planned on taking in oct, didn't prepare enough. Planning on taking it in December now, but really just starting to prep seriously( yeah I know I have royally screwed myself). I did a lot of practice on LG (pithy pike method) but not really much practice anything else.

I just took my first ever timed PT, super prep A, and got rocked, especially by one of the lgs. Scored a 160, but most of that terrible performance was due to the fact that I couldnt really attempt one lg and I paced myself terribly on RC.

So, what should I do? Still take in Dec? Embrace the year off?

I do not want to go to any school ranked worse than University of Texas, and ut is really my first choice( I live in TX). My gpa is about 3.85.

franklyscarlet · Post by **franklyscarlet** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:09 pm

bearsniper wrote:I planned on taking in oct, didn't prepare enough. Planning on taking it in December now, but really just starting to prep seriously( yeah I know I have royally screwed myself). I did a lot of practice on LG (pithy pike method) but not really much practice anything else.

I just took my first ever timed PT, super prep A, and got rocked, especially by one of the lgs. Scored a 160, but most of that terrible performance was due to the fact that I couldnt really attempt one lg and I paced myself terribly on RC.

So, what should I do? Still take in Dec? Embrace the year off?

I do not want to go to any school ranked worse than University of Texas, and ut is really my first choice( I live in TX). My gap is about 3.85.

are you right out of UG? If so, year off is always TCR. Get some work experience, get some life experience, rock the LSAT at your leisure.

bearsniper · Post by **bearsniper** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:11 pm

I'm a senior in UG at Baylor. Graduating in may.

franklyscarlet · Post by **franklyscarlet** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:12 pm

bearsniper wrote:I'm a senior in UG at Baylor. Graduating in may.

definitely then,take the year off.

bearsniper · Post by **bearsniper** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:14 pm

What should I do in regards to The December test?

rinkrat19 · Post by **rinkrat19** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:16 pm

bearsniper wrote:What should I do in regards to The December test?

Postpone to June. No point in taking it if you're underprepared, unless you have money to burn and really really want to experience the real test.

Ernert · Post by **Ernert** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:17 pm

rinkrat19 wrote:
bearsniper wrote:What should I do in regards to The December test?
Postpone to June. No point in taking it if you're underprepared, unless you have money to burn and really really want to experience the real test.

+1

franklyscarlet · Post by **franklyscarlet** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:18 pm

bearsniper wrote:What should I do in regards to The December test?

Well, if you feel ready, you could take it, but you now have the luxury of taking it in June. I would say to wait, but it depends on how you feel/ what your commitments are leading up to the test.

bearsniper · Post by **bearsniper** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:26 pm

As far as 'ready' goes I have some practice with LG, but really no formal practice with LR or RC. Haven't worked through a LR manhattan or powerscore book yet.

franklyscarlet · Post by **franklyscarlet** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:27 pm

bearsniper wrote:As far as 'ready' goes I have some practice with LG, but really no formal practice with LR or RC. Haven't worked through a LR manhattan or powerscore book yet.

June is TCR then.

hobojarpen · Post by **hobojarpen** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:02 pm

Don't look at the year off as something to dread. Maybe my situation doesn't quite apply to yours, but I graduated from college in 2009, got a 160 on the Dec 09 LSAT, got a job as a legal clerk, bombed and got a 155 on the Dec 10 LSAT, quit my job after a year, enrolled in blueprint, and got broke 170 on the Oct 2011 LSAT. I'm not waiting to hear back from the 23 schools I applied to.

My journey was tough and full of doubts along the way, but by persevering, I was able to get good experience and an awesome LSAT score out of it. Make the most of your year off too and good luck!

kennethellenparcell · Post by **kennethellenparcell** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 1:45 pm

Whoa whoa OP. Please do not view taking a year off as a bad thing. My advice to people is always to take time off before law school unless they are absolutely sure what area of law they want to go into and absolutely sure that law is for them. Most often, people straight out of undergrad don't have this type of direction. If you are one of these people, then with your GPA, you should most definitely postpone. Just make sure you set a game plan for yourself on how to get that score you want.

Take the year off and go get some work experience, make some connections, learn how to deal with office politics. What you learn during your year off will be to your advantage in the long run.

JamMasterJ · Post by **JamMasterJ** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 1:51 pm

definitely push to June. BTW, a 160 for your first test is not bad at all

theavrock · Post by **theavrock** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:11 pm

Take a year off.

I took two off and made use of that time. I raised my LSAT 11 points and have great work experience to talk about in interviews and put on my resume.

Best decision I made.

If you aren't ready do not take the test. It's that simple.

Gail · Post by **Gail** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 3:26 pm

Its hard to say any other way than take a year off.

I'm not one to promote that as much as others because it's a lot easier to say - Hey get some GREAT work experience because unemployment is ONLY 9% - but after not studying at all, any school that you get into will not be worth paying for.

160 on the first test means that you're smart. Do yourself a favor, study, take in June/October, and then reapply next year (or in a year after that if you can find something not in a retail store).

mattviphky · Post by **mattviphky** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:43 pm

taking a year off to work or to do something substantial looks good to schools, future employers, and its good to get some RandR before hitting the books hard for three years.

Gail · Post by **Gail** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:04 pm

Here's a question for the take the year off group (which I guess, in this case, I'm a part of)

What exactly do you do?

For me, I feel like it is unlikely that I'm going to find a job that I can claim as work experience. I don't have much volunteer experience as is - so there goes PeaceCorps and TFA.

So then what?

FryBreadPower · Post by **FryBreadPower** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:08 pm

mattviphky wrote:taking a year off to work or to do something substantial looks good to schools, future employers, and its good to get some RandR before hitting the books hard for three years.

Plus if you do well enough on the test, any resulting scholarship/job opportunities may make studying for the test a very lucrative job.

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